iOS 5 new features, a first look

Things have changed drastically at Apple in the past two days, just a day ago the world saw the launch of the new iPhone titled the iPhone 4S and today the world received news of the demise of Apple’s visionary ex-CEO, Steve Jobs.

Putting aside this sad news, at the Apple event titled “Let’s Talk iPhone” other than the news of the iPhone 4S the world was introduced to the iOS 5. The new iOS has a couple of really cool features and user can upgrade to this new version starting the 12th of October, just 2 days before the iPhone 4S becomes available on carriers.

Some of the new features and apps that Apple has introduced in the iOS 5 are described below.

First is the Cards App. This app lets users turn photos into a personalized greeting card and then the user can ask Apple to actually print this card and send it to the intended recipient. All this comes for a price though, the user will have to pay $2.99 for mailing the card within the USA and if they want to send it to a destination outside of the USA a slightly steeper price of $4.99 will have to be paid. The user won’t be charged anything for creating and emailing the card. If the card is posted inside the US, Apple will use the Postal service’s Intelligent Bar Code so that the user can receive an update upon delivery of the card.

Notifications on the new iOS have been improved and now resemble the notification system found inside Android operating system. The user can swipe the top bar downwards and see a list of all the notifications that are available for viewing. There is no word on whether the pop up notification system has been totally dropped or not.

Also, there is a new messaging service called the iMessage which lets an iPhone users communicate with an iPad user via Wi-Fi and over 3G. There is also a great reminder app which lets you store reminders and tag a location to them so that whenever the user comes near that particular location with the GPS on the reminder will trigger. Twitter integration has been added to the iOS 5. A Newsstand App will also be included with iOS 5, which is a one stop shop for all of the user’s favorite magazines and periodicals. The camera feature gets an update with the ability to turn on the camera available on the lock screen and the volume up button can be used as the capture button.

The devices that can get the iOS 5 update include the iPhone 4 and 3GS, iPad 1 and 2, and iPod Touch 3rd and 4th Generation.

Originally posted 2011-10-06 20:42:51.